Cool Ninja Sharpshooter
by Reader115
Summary: Written in response to season 3. Although, this is not at all a season 3 "fixer", because I adored season 3. More like…"Hey man, check out this possible missing scene where Keith hands over the red bayard to Lance."


"Here."

Keith held out his hand, and Lance could only stare down at the red bayard that was being offered to him.

"I heard you gave Allura yours, so…"

Lance lifted his gaze from Keith's hand and watched as Keith merely shrugged. But the new team leader wasn't making eye contact, choosing instead to focus on some unseen object on floor of the red lion's hangar.

There was a small tug of resistance from Keith's fingers as Lance gingerly took the new bayard from Keith's grasp, and he tried to offer an encouraging smile, even though Keith still wasn't looking at him. He ran his fingers over the cool metal, and instantly thought of the hours upon hours this weapon had been held in Keith's hand, either through training in the castle or actual hand to hand combat.

"Do you have the black one?"

That, at least, got Keith to look at him as he nodded. "Yeah, I was holding it for Shiro." He sighed before slowing moving his eyes up towards where Red sat staring down at them. "But, you were right to give yours to Allura, and you're going to need this one to work with Red in battle. So…" He shrugged again and tore his eyes away from the large lion.

"Wait, this doesn't mean I have to learn how to fight with a sword now, right?" Lance resisted the urge to shove the bayard back towards Keith's chest. There were only so many changes he was willing to handle at one time.

But he relaxed as he heard Keith actually chuckle in response to his question. He watched as Keith pulled the black bayard from his paladin armor and quickly activated it, revealing a long, pointy sword. Lance eyed it warily, though, eyes narrowing as he chewed on his bottom lip. The sword itself still looked natural in Keith's hands, but Lance was having a hard time with the black color. He relied on seeing flashes of red in battle, the bright color quickly showing him that Keith was still moving forward. And, sure, Keith would still stand out in the red armor, but…

Keith tilted his head at Lance's frown, but instead of asking, he put the black bayard away before jutting his chin towards the bayard in Lance's hands. "Let's see it."

Lance shook himself out of his thoughts. "Okay," he said, before hesitating as he realized he was nervous to try to activate the red bayard. Keith's bayard. In front of Keith. "Let's make sure I'm still the group sharpshooter, yeah?"

"As if that title could apply to anyone else."

The level of sincerity in Keith's tone immediately melted away the anxiousness that had been holding his chest hostage in a vice grip. He even grinned as he glanced quickly at Keith. At Keith's warm eyes, which were framed as always by that unruly black hair. He could feel warmth in his belly — warmth that he'd recently begun to equate with Keith _and only Keith_ — grow hotter. Stronger.

"I'm gonna take care of them," he said earnestly from where he stood, which was next to Red in the red lion's hangar, while holding the red paladin's bayard. He still had a lot to learn before he could dream of piloting Red like Keith had, and he had committed before this moment to being Keith's right hand. But he was even more determined now than before to do it _right_. His eyes searched Keith's face, looking for any sign that Keith understood.

He watched Keith's impossibly large eyes glance back up at Red once more before Keith was looking back at him with a nod and small smile.

"I know you will."

Feeling reassured and finally ready to try, Lance switched his grip on the red bayard from a reverent hold to a more secure grip, and watched as it transformed into a gun.

A gun for _him_.

Elements of red mixed in with the white and black.

Sleeker than the gun provided by the blue bayard.

Keith was forgotten for a moment as his eyes widened to inspect this new beautiful piece of machinery. Although it was almost the same size as his previous rifle, the stock on this gun was more traditional, and he decided to ponder later on what the shape said about the role of the red paladin.

"Keith, come with me."

He didn't give Keith a choice as he grabbed his wrist and dragged him out of the hanger and down a hallway. Keith practically stumbled after him, his wrist burning pleasantly at the contact, and he finally gave up asking where they were going when he realized Lance was beelining for the training room. He was released when they reached the droid platform, but stood confused as he watched as an excited, almost manic grin pulled at Lance's lips.

"Training level ten," Lance announced to the ceiling. "Release the droids!"

"Ten! Lance, wait!"

Keith felt Lance's back hit his own, lining them up to try to keep each other safe, and he barely had time to pull his shield before they were being fired upon. Even with every member of the team present, they'd _never_ reached level ten before. The droids were not only faster at this level, they also circled the platform from a further distance, making them even harder to strike in order to knock them out of the exercise.

Keith blocked a few shots sent their way before glancing over his shoulder at Lance. Lance had the new gun pressed to his shoulder, eyes narrowed in concentration as the trigger was pulled again and again, hitting droid after droid with a level of accuracy that had heat coloring Keith's face and spikes of adrenaline shooting down his arms.

And he was pretty damn certain that both reactions had nothing to do with the training drill, and everything to do with watching Lance in his element.

Keith barely registered that all the droids were gone until he felt Lance's warmth move away from his back as Lance celebrated with a short dance, a quick fist pump, and a whoop of excitement.

"Did you _see_ that?"

"I — yes," Keith managed to say as he slowly put his shield away and glanced up to the control room. He wondered if the room's cameras had managed to capture that, because yes, he had definitely seen that, and yes, he would definitely like to see it again. Preferably while he was not also supposed to be guarding their backs with his shield.

"You and Red don't do shit halfway!" Lance exclaimed as he lifted the rifle to examine it again. His face was flushed and his smile was huge, showing off practically all of his pretty white teeth. "The caliber on this is way higher than my blue rifle! Do you know what this means for combat?"

Keith nodded dumbly. His arms were still tingling all the way down to his fingertips. And he was feeling slightly concerned that his mouth might be hanging open in impressed shock. _Why didn't he have control over these things?_ Thankfully, if he _was_ still gaping at Lance, at least Lance didn't seem to notice as he pressed the gun back to his shoulder and stared down an imaginary foe across the room.

"Keith, man, will you help me set up more drills? I've got to see just how far away the reach is on this thing. I mean, it's not a sniper rifle, but it can still —"

The rest of Lance's sentence died in his throat as the gun actually began to transform in his hands. At first he thought maybe it was taking the original bayard shape, even though he hadn't even thought about disabling it yet. But he soon realized it was doing the exact opposite of that, because the stock wasn't retracting, it was _growing_.

"Keith," he whispered. His eyes flew away from the sniper rifle he was now holding in order to meet Keith's equally wide-eyed gaze.

"Whoa," Keith whispered in response as he took a step closer in order to brush his fingers along the elongated barrel.

"Holy shit," Lance whispered. He pressed the butt of this new gun to his shoulder before lifting the rest high enough to peer down the scope. " _Holy shit_ ," he repeated, because suddenly he was able to read the miniscule details of the control panel on the entire opposite side of the training room.

"Lance, you — it — that's —" Keith took a breath and ran both hands through his hair. He quickly pushed back the slight embarrassment that came with being unable to finish a sentence as he felt the need to gush praise all over Lance. "Do you even realize? This is incredible. Lance, you just unlocked the ability to transform a bayard into different forms. You — you can pull up whatever works best for the situation."

Lance pulled the gun from his shoulder and practically hid it away as his arm dropped down to his side. His free hand rubbed across the back of his neck as he suddenly looked unsure and out of place, a complete 180 to the confident marksman that had been standing before Keith only a moment ago.

"I'm sure it's not — _me_ ," Lance stuttered. "It's probably just the way this bayard works. You never needed anything other than your sword, cause you always had your knife on you, too, right? So why would it switch to anything else for you?"

Keith's brows furrowed as he stared hard at Lance. " _No_ , Lance. You've done something no one else has managed with the bayards. _You_. You've done it."

Lance lifted the rifle back into both hands and stared down at it. He thought about the high-powered gun it had been only a few moments ago, and watched as the long-range rifle transformed _again_ back into that original shape.

"Holy shit," he whispered one more time.

"Cool ninja sharpshooter," Keith whispered back.

Lance's blue eyes _lit up_ at that. He stood a little taller, which pressed his shoulders back, making him appear even broader than usual, before jutting out one hip and resting his new rifle back against his shoulder. One eyebrow crept up his forehead as a slow smirk spread across his face aimed directly at Keith.

Keith resisted the urge to roll his eyes at this ridiculous boy who apparently couldn't take a compliment about being more advanced than the rest of them in regards to unlocking a bayard's potential.

But accidentally boost his ego by throwing his own boasted words back at him? Suddenly Keith had a preening peacock on his hands.

Keith would take it, though. And he found he had no choice but to return Lance's grin with a smile of his own.


End file.
